1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seedling raising device capable of cultivating the offspring of vegetable plants or flowering plants, such as strawberry plants, in an elevated structure in which the number of seedlings in a cultivation area is increased and water-borne infectious diseases such as anthracnose can be prevented.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditional methods for cultivating annual plants easily destroyed by blight, such as strawberries, generally involve raising seedlings in a controlled indoor environment and then transplanting the seedlings outdoors after sufficient growth. The growth enables the plant to increase its resistance to blight, thus increasing crop yield.
The traditional methods, however, require intensive labor in raising the seedling and then transplanting it for further growth. These methods also leave the plants vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as anthracnose,
More recently, methods have been developed in which plants are raised in an elevated soil bed to which a separate nutrient solution is provided. Horizontally arrayed seedling raising plates are incorporated into the structure. Plants grow in the elevated soil bed and offspring shoots of the plants are planted in the seedling raising plates. This method prevents the plants from being infected with the water-borne infectious diseases found in the open field.
However, as compared to cultivation in open fields, these elevated devices generally do not increase the number of offspring shoots that can be cultivated. Furthemore, if the mother plant is infected with a waterborne infection, the daughter plants will be likewise infected. Thus, the damage possible in using these prior art methods and devices can be very serious requiring the soil bed to be wholly replaced and a new mother plant planted. Such a remedy is inconvenient, costly, and complicated.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a seedling raising device for the elevated cultivation of plants, in which a separate seedling raising plate is elevated and watering and drainage devices are incorporated in a standing cultivating structure, which is disclosed in Utility Model No. 27267. This device increases the number of offspring plants in a cultivation area. By separately supplying the nutrient solution to the seedling rising plates, the blight infection rate is reduced, thus increasing crop yield. Further, the number of offspring plants is increased because blight does not spread from one mother plant to another.